


dum spiro, spero

by bertererei



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Attempted Amputation, Blood and Gore, Exorcism, Foul Language, Gen, Horror, Horror Movie Gimmick, OOC, Supernatural Investigator Vlogger AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-02
Updated: 2019-06-02
Packaged: 2020-04-06 22:02:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,602
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19071559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertererei/pseuds/bertererei
Summary: Supernatural Investigator Vlogger AU. This is the last time Jean ever trusts Floch with finding a haunted location to film.





	dum spiro, spero

**Author's Note:**

> Prompted by [Reverse Prompt's 3rd Challenge](https://reverseprompts.tumblr.com/post/183489517387/reverse-prompt-challenge-3-blood-bath-your).
> 
> Warning: Supernatural Investigator Vlogger AU. Gore/Blood. Attempted amputation. Foul language. Horror Movie/Story Gimmicks. 
> 
> I know, I know. I have three other unfinished works. Shhhhhh. I just… had a flash of inspiration when I saw the picture and couldn’t stop. I don’t think this contains any spoilers, what it being an AU and all. But everyone’s ages are somewhere vaguely around college aged.  
> Just… Uh… Enjoy the gore/horror …?

Image created by [dragonpressgraphics](https://dragonpressgraphics.tumblr.com/)

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

The class assignment was a simple, “Make a themed vlog and update it every Monday. We’ll critique it during class while watching it together.”

Sasha wanted to do a Mukbang, but none of them wanted to pay for the sheer amount of food they’d have to buy weekly. Connie suggested a Let’s Play, but none of them actually liked playing games. Floch said something that they all shut down before he even got to the second syllable, because Floch’s last suggestion back in high school got Connie almost ran over by a school bus, Sasha half-killed by an old man with a machete, Jean with a broken arm, and Floch with an A on the math assignment that they weren’t even studying for.

So having no choice, Jean suggested that they make a “Supernatural Investigator Vlog.”

“What does that even mean?” Sasha asked at the same time Connie said, “Supernatural doesn’t exist, Jean.”

“It just means that we’ll sneak into abandoned buildings and film for a bit. Then we just edit in ambient noise or whatever and bam. Easy A.”

What none of them expected was for how well this vlog to take off.

With Sasha as their charming and bubbly guide through the haunted location, Connie as their on-site director whose eyes seem to instinctively know exactly what to film (as well as mad editor), Jean as their ever-reliable and steady cameraman (doubling as the person who finds said haunted places), and Floch as… Floch as that guy, they were able to produce weekly vlogs that everyone encouraged them to continue even after the class was over.

They can’t film weekly anymore due to their own respective classes and lives. But they do make an effort to meet up every month to go filming for this Supernatural Investigator Vlog of theirs.

It’s not like they want to turn this into their careers, Jean doesn’t think (although he won’t mind if it ever came to that). Besides, the views they get from this vlog is not nearly enough what they need to live off of it. But it’s a fun way to keep tabs on Connie and Sasha and where they are in their lives. Oh, and Floch, too.

To be honest, he has no idea why Floch is still with them. Jean isn’t even sure if he does anything. Typically, it’s Jean who drives them out to the abandoned location that he found. They set up and film like always and come home. Sometimes, Sasha might invite them out to go eat somewhere. Other times, Connie might have extra tickets for a movie for them to watch together. Few times, Jean even drives them all down to the beach just to hang.

But Floch never offers anything.

“I think we should get rid of Floch,” Jean admits as the four of them are at a family diner, eating dinner after filming.

Floch’s head snaps up, his eyes wide in disbelief. “Huh?!” he exclaims.

“It’s just… do you do anything?”

Even Sasha and Connie seem to have to really think to figure out what Floch does. Jean doesn’t know how to tell them they don’t need to think that hard. It’s really obvious what Floch does.

“I… I help out with filming!” Floch protests.

“Doing what? You’re not in any of the videos aside as a brief blur. You don’t point out cool places for Sasha to explore next like Connie does. You don’t ever volunteer to film. You don’t drive us or find locations for us to film. You don't help with the editing. You don’t ever invite us out to do anything after filming. What exactly do you bring to the table?”

There’s a thick silence before Sasha and Connie both let out a soft, “Ohhhhhh,” as if it just dawned on them what Jean is pointing out. If Jean never said anything, they probably wouldn’t have noticed, huh?

Floch seems to have realized that, too, because he’s now glaring at Jean like this is his fault when Floch is the one who never helps out.

“Fine!” he says, slamming his palm on the table. “I’ll find a great location for us to film next time.”

*

It is, in fact, a great location.

It’s a little ways out, but not impossible to get to. The house feels like it’s in the middle of a field of grass, at least ten minutes away from any neighbors. What might have been a quaint garden is now an overgrowth of plants. If not for the faint red of the peeling paint, Jean would have completely missed the house.

According to Floch’s research, this is the “Leonhart” residence. The Leonhart family that used to reside here were killed brutally few years back. All reports at the time said it was an armed burglary that went went horrifically wrong. The only “survivor” was a Leonhart’s only daughter, Annie, who was in a coma until last year, when they finally pulled the plug.

It’s a place where even the backstory sounds like a perfect lead up to a horror movie.

Jean can’t believe he’s thinking this, but it looks like Floch actually pulled through.

“Alright, Sasha! I’m ready to start filming whenever you’re ready!”

*

Although it’s only been a few years since the burglary, the inside of the house stinks of mold and stale air. The wallpapers are ripped and peeling from the walls. They have to pay extra attention when walking, because some of the floorboards creak loudly before cracking and disappearing beneath them. At the very least, it doesn’t look like the ceiling tiles might drop on their heads yet.

“Oops! Better watch my steps!” Sasha says with a light laugh as she steps back from another piece of floorboard falling beneath her shoes. “Isn’t this place way more destroyed than it should be?”

“Ah shit, guys! Look at the kitchen!” Connie groans.

Jean slowly follows Sasha to the kitchen. This place, Jean can’t help but to think as he glances around, must be where the family was killed. The cops cleaned the place well. There aren’t any signs of bloodshed that must have occurred here. But Jean gets the feeling that this is the murder ground, because he feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.

“Ugh. I’m getting goosebumps,” Sasha whispers to the camera.

“Look,” Connie says as he points to the open cabinets. “Someone’s been here before us. The dust’s all uneven.”

Sasha goes to examine it, and Jean makes sure to film every bit. Just as Connie pointed out, there are marks where someone must have recently moved items inside of these cabinets. From the circular shapes, Jean guesses that it was canned goods that were moved. The dust from outside of the circular shape is much thicker than those inside of it. But there's also a curious shape that doesn't seem like canned goods. It looks kind of like some kind of a tool, though. What could it have been?

“H-how long ago do you think they were here? I really don’t want to run into someone else again,” Sasha says.

A few times when they were exploring abandoned buildings, they had some unpleasant encounters with some homeless people and in other places, drug addicts. Sasha has gotten really good at running away, Connie close at her heels. But Jean still struggles to run while protecting the camera. They've broken so many because of those incidents. Jean really hopes he doesn't have to buy a new camera after this, because that means picking up at least three extra shifts and praying for a bonus, which will most definitely not happen.

Curse being a retail employee while still in college.

“There’s dust on top of where the items were, so probably a while back?” Jean guesses.

The three of them exchange a glance.

“Hey, where’s Floch?” Sasha wonders.

She makes her way out of the kitchen and back into the hallway, calling for Floch. Jean and Connie both follow her.

“Hey guys, a window up here is open!” Floch’s voice calls from the upstairs.

Jean really doesn’t like the sound of that.

But both Connie and Sasha gulp bravely and walk forward. He has no choice but to follow them with the camera.

*

The air upstairs is much nicer than the one downstairs. It’s clearly due to the open window that Floch is standing next to. The dust up here is still noticeably thick, as if the window has been recently opened.

Sasha goes to examine the open window and lets out a soft exclamation.

“G-guys,” she hisses lowly, “I-it’s a ladder. Someone used a ladder to come up here.”

“That’s not all,” Floch says quietly. He motions at the ground.

Because of the thick dust, their footsteps are all marked on the ground. Four pairs of shoes that came up the stairs and towards the window.

But there’s another pair of footsteps leading from the window towards one of the closed doors. From the way the footsteps are shaped, Jean guesses they belong to a man’s military boots.

The alarm bells in Jean’s head are going off at full blast. They need to get out of here. Whatever they’re going to find in that room, it’s not worth whatever meager views they’ll get out of this.

“Let’s leave,” is on the tip of his tongue.

Logically speaking, that’s the best thing to do. Even if someone online calls them cowards for running away now, it’s better than whatever they might find in there. And if it turns out to be an aggressive homeless person or drug addict again, then they’ll end up running for their lives again. Sure, that can be pretty funny when you look back, but it’s not something Jean likes to experience again and again, especially not at the cost of the camera.

“Alright,” Sasha says. She turns to the camera with a confident grin. “Let’s see who’s behind that door!”

No, Jean should have said. Let’s turn back.

But he quietly follows behind her as if he’s caught up in some kind of a spell. He doesn’t want to know at all, but he has to know. Like there’s something that’s pulling him forward.

Sasha’s hand touches the doorknob. She pauses for a second before she slams the door open as loudly as she can.

“Hello!” she yells out.

They freeze at the sight before them.

There’s a tub pushed to the furthest side of the room away from them. This place doesn’t look like the bathroom, but there’s a bathtub in it anyways. The wallpapers up here don’t match the ones downstairs, but they’re still peeling. There’s a towel and a curtain that’s clearly here because of the tub. But Jean still can’t figure out why there’s a tub in what looks to be a regular room.

Is this just what the Leonharts were into? Bathing in almost the middle of a regular room?

But the part that makes Jean freeze, the part that makes Connie and Sasha freeze and Floch run out, isn’t the tub.

It’s the young man perched on the edge of the tub. The young man has long hair that might have convinced Jean that it’s a woman if not for the messy stubble on his face. His left eye is covered by bandages, and his right stares at them in mild shock and annoyance. In his right hand, he holds a handsaw against his own left leg. And now that Jean thinks about it, doesn't that handsaw shape look suspiciously a lot like the missing tool in the kitchen cabinet? 

Right before Sasha opened the door, it’s clear that this man has been attempting to saw off his leg, judging from the dark red the curtains, the towel, and the ground are.

This scene makes no sense to Jean.

He sees it. He clearly sees it and is filming it. But his brain can’t process it. Shock. He's certain that he's feeling it. Because he feels numb at the sight of this bloody mess that makes no sense.

“W-what… What are you doing?” Sasha asks, probably because she’s feeling just as shocked as the rest of them do.

The young man scratches his neck, looking troubled. Then he makes a small motion with his free left hand.

“What does it look like?”

“You uh… You look like you’re trying to… chop off that leg… Y-you know it won’t grow back? Because you’re not a lizard?” Connie says.

Jean thinks Connie was trying to make a joke, but none of them are in a laughing mood.

“It is exactly what it looks like,” the young man tells them with a nod. He then takes the saw and-

“S-s-stop!” Jean yells. “W-w-why are you t-t-trying to c-cut off your own leg?!”

The young man pauses long enough to glance back at Jean. “… The voices in my head told me to?”

Oh god. Oh god.

A mental patient.

They’re dealing with a mental patient who is clearly mad.

“Look, I don’t need bunch of kids judging me. If you’re done gawking, can you leave?”

Oh, he wants them to leave? Perfect! Jean thinks that that’s a great idea. They’ll just walk out right now and-

Floch’s scream comes from down the hall before he runs back into the room. He tries to close the door, but he’s a second too late.

An Asian lady who can only be described as demonic kicks the door back open before it can close properly. She’s clad in skin-tight all black clothing that must be easy to move in. The only color on her is the bright red of her scarf and the red of her lips.

All of that, Jean could understand and come to terms with.

What he cannot, however, are the twin katanas in her hands.

Like what the fuck? Katanas?

Floch falls to the ground, still screaming. Connie is standing protectively over Sasha, except he looks confused as to which enemy to focus on first. The mental patient or this lady with double katanas. Jean is shocked that he’s still filming.

The lady’s apathetic eyes move from Floch on the ground, to Connie and Sasha, and then to Jean. She slices down with her katana, breaking Jean’s camera.

Jean can’t even mutter out how expensive this camera is and just how many of his paychecks he saved up in order to get this. He's just really glad that the lady's control was good enough to just cut the camera and nothing else.

Then the lady seems to lose complete interest in them as she turns to the mental patient.

“Eren, put down the handsaw,” she snaps.

Her voice is tinged with fear. Despite how forceful her voice is trying to be, it shakes lightly in anxiety. Jean thinks she might actually be worried for their mental patient over there. Is “Eren” his name?

The mental patient rubs his temples with his left hand. He looks tiredly at the lady.

“I know how this looks-”

“Put it down,” she repeats.

With a soft sigh, the mental patient tosses the handsaw to the side. He then holds both his hands up in the air. The lady lets out a sigh of relief. She sheathes her katanas (again, what the fuck) and runs to his side.

“I told you to wait for us. Why are you always in such a rush?” she asks with a quivering voice. Her hands hover worriedly over him but seems terrified of touching him.

“I’m fine, Mikasa. They just got really impatient, is all.”

It seems that the two of them are more or less distracted. Good. This is the perfect time to escape. Jean turns to motion at Connie and Sasha, but the two of them seem frozen in shock. Now that Jean thinks about it, did Floch stop screaming?

He turns towards the door and sees a smiling figure carrying a struggling chicken by the neck.

“Honestly, Eren! We look away for a bit, and you’re already this hurt!” the person sighs.

This person is shorter than the other two. His hair is short blonde, and his eyes seem to be ocean blue. With such serenity and calm, Jean mistakenly believes this person to be a woman at first. But the voice is most clearly a man’s. But then again, maybe this person identifies as something aside from a woman or a man and-

“Please excuse us,” the person says with a sweet smile to Jean, Floch, Connie, and Sasha. “We’re not usually this unorganized.”

An angel, Jean thinks. This person has to be an angel. Never mind the chicken in one hand. Maybe the angel found a chicken that was trying to cross the road and rescued it from being ran over. Who the hell knows? He's not Connie, he can't come up with a funny joke with just that. 

Then the angel moves to the mental patient’s side, scolding about this or that.

“Even if you guys are worried, look,” the mental patient says. He lifts up his now fully healed leg. “I’m fine.”

The angel lets out a sigh of relief. Then he sets his eyes on the four vloggers. “Since you’re fine, let’s deal with the extras.”

And Jean realizes with a start that, no, that’s not an angel. An angel doesn’t make such terrifying expression while calling humans “extras.”

*

“I’m Eren,” the mental patient starts, looking uncomfortable. He is still perched on the edge of the tub, looking down at them tiredly.

The Asian lady (Mikasa) and the not-angel (Armin) stand on either side of Eren. They glare down at the four vloggers with a look that Jean can only understand to mean hostility.

Floch, Connie, Sasha, and Jean sit in front of the three of them on their knees, making sure not to sit anywhere near the blood still on the floor and the towel and the curtain. Now that they’re this close to where the injury was, the stench of blood constantly tickles Jean’s nose.

He wants to puke.

The four of them explained who they are and why they’re here. After hearing that, the three introduced themselves. And now they’re all looking at Eren, waiting for some kind of an explanation for all of this.

“I’m… uh… I’m haunted by this Angel and Devil,” he says.

Jean glances at Mikasa and Armin, remembering exactly how they looked and how they acted. An angel and a devil, huh? It’s clearly a metaphor, but Jean can roll with it.

“Ah no, not these two,” Eren says when he realizes that all four vloggers are looking at Armin and Mikasa. “They’re normal… uh… As normal as it gets around here. I mean them.”

For a second, Jean really fears that he will turn to stare and actually come face to face with supernatural beings. But it turns out that his luck is still piss poor.

There’s nothing where Eren pointed. Just empty space.

“Uh… t-there’s nothing there,” Connie reports.

Eren sighs. “You guys don’t see them either, huh?”

“Can you… prove that there’s something there?” Sasha asks slowly.

“Not exactly prove but…”

Eren points to Jean. “Your name is Jean Kirstein. No matter how you like to act, you’re a virgin and you’ve never dated anyone before.”

He points to Sasha. “You’re Sasha Blouse. Your favorite food in the world is meat. But your nickname is ‘Potato Girl’ because of an incident with Instructor Shadis.”

He points to Connie. “You’re Connie Springer. You’re an idiot but an honest one. If you weren’t so stupid, you’d probably be a more respected guy.”

Finally, he points to Floch. “You’re Floch Forster. You’re a coward who can bark all you want but will never take action that goes against the flow.”

“T-that’s what… your angel and devil told you?” Jean asks slowly.

“No. That’s what the guy behind you told me.”

Behind…?

Jean turns to look, but again, there’s nothing there.

“He has freckles on his face. Quite a cute looking guy. Younger than you guys, so I assume he died much earlier.”

… No.

No, no, no.

“Ah, but half of his body is missing. Must have been a brutal accident, huh?”

There’s no question about it. This guy just described Marco. But how? How the hell does he know what happened in high school? Marco’s death is… Marco’s death was…

“Floch! It was you, wasn’t it?” Jean snaps. He grabs Floch by the front of his shirt and gives him a shake. “I thought it was weird you knew about such a nice place like this! What? Did you pay someone to yank our chains like this? Is it funny? Are you laughing?!”

But the pale and terrified expression on Floch’s face tells him all he needs to know.

This isn’t something that was planned. No one bought any actors. Then these guys…

“He didn’t do that,” Eren tells Jean. “But you already know that, don’t you?”

Jean stands up. He doesn’t want to hear this. He doesn’t need to hear this. He begins to pace, just a bit away from everyone else.

Marco disappeared in the middle of their high school years. And it took weeks before he was finally found, half of his body missing like some kind of a sick joke. It caused a huge uproar and began an investigation into the school, but nothing was ever found. No one knew how Marco died. No one had any clue. All they had was half a body and more questions and grief in their hearts-

“D-did he say anything else?” Connie asks Eren. “T-the guy behind Jean, I mean. Did he say anything else for us?”

“Hm? Ah… just the usual. He’s worried that you guys started this 'vlog' to find traces of him. He wants you guys to move on. So that he can. As long as you guys hold onto him, he won't be able to pass on, you know? That kind of things.”

It’s so flippant. “The usual,” huh? Maybe it’s the usual for someone who claims to be haunted by a devil and an angel, but this isn’t the usual for them, okay? Their searches for the supernatural always end up as an empty search or some random hobo or drug addicts. It’s never actually the supernatural. So what the hell are they supposed to say? How the hell are they supposed to react to all of this?

“Well, we can deal more with that later,” Eren says. He finally stands up from the tub’s edge. “Can you guys move towards the walls? I’m going to do what I came to do.”

“And what’s that?” Floch asks reluctantly.

Eren smiles lazily. “Exorcism.”

*

They stand with their backs pressed against the wall because they have no idea what’s going to happen. Eren said to just keep the center of the room clear, where they've killed the chicken using the handsaw. The body of the chicken, once drained of blood, was casually tossed into the tub.

Just a little, Jean wonders if maybe they're all mad for going along with this.

Eren takes off the bandages around his left eye.

And fuck.

Jean doesn’t know what he expected. Maybe something really cringey like normal eye? Like Eren just hid his normal left eye for shits and giggles. Or maybe something magical like Eren has a different colored eye behind the bandages.

He doesn’t expect a fucking empty socket.

Eren holds his right hand out towards the middle of the room. If this was a movie, Jean imagines that this is where Eren would start incanting something in Latin. It’s always Latin. But Eren doesn’t say anything. He just holds his hands there and…

Jean figured that since they can’t see, nothing will happen.

Nothing’s supposed to happen, right?

Connie notices it first.

Eren’s blood that were soaked by the curtain and the towel and the floor moves like they’ve been possessed. That’s the only way Jean can describe it. It doesn’t move like liquid should. Instead, it looks more like… clumps of…? Goop? Slime? Whatever it is, it makes bile rise up in Jean’s throat. It combines with the blood of the chicken that was spilled in the middle of the room.

The smell is even more nauseating. The scent of blood, Jean has more or less gotten used to. But this smells more foul. Like food that’s gone sour. Or… or perhaps a rotting corpse.

Jean shudders.

The blood creates a circle around Eren, flashing gold once it’s completed. From there, a thin golden light webs out within the circle, surrounding Eren. And now that Jean looks again, where Eren’s left eye was an empty socket is now a golden eye that seems surreal.

This… this all has to be a dream, right? Or maybe some kind of special effects? There's no way that this can be real.

Jean glances to Connie and Sasha, who are both staring in awe. Floch sounds like he’s crying while muttering prayers, so Jean doesn’t look too closely at what that guy’s doing. And Mikasa and Armin… The two of them look sad as they stare at Eren from their corner against the wall.

Slowly, Jean looks back to the circle and just barely holds back a startled gasp.

There’s a teenage girl in the circle with Eren. She’s completely outlined by the gold of the circle, so Jean can’t make her out too well. But she… somehow feels familiar. Like they’ve met before in a long ago dream.

“Hey Annie,” Eren says softly. “Long time no see.”

Jean doesn't know if there's an answer. Eren tilts his head to the side as if listening to something. He snorts lightly at something that only he can hear.

"Even if you say that, I'm not the one stuck. I get that you're upset but…"

Eren goes suddenly silent. He seems contemplative as he listens to whatever Annie has to say. Then he sighs. He scratches his neck, looking awkward.

"As always, you're impossible. I'm trying to help you here. Ah… I see. I guess that makes sense. As long as you fulfill your promise, you don't care about anything else, huh? But Annie, you understand, right? To do that, you have to go to where your father is.”

There’s a sudden gust of wind that seems to be originating from where the circle is. Jean covers his face from the wind. When he opens his eyes again, he stares blankly at the two doors (gates?) that have appeared just behind the golden-outlined girl.

One door is pearly white and decorated with long columns that logically can’t fit inside of this room. The other one is dark with what looks to be skeletal hands decorating it.

The gates of “Heaven” and “Hell.”

At least, that’s the feeling Jean gets by looking at them.

Actually, now that the doors are clear and solid before them, Jean realizes that the girl is no longer outlined in gold. She looks like a normal teenager with an annoyed scowl on her face. Is this what Eren normally sees?

To the left of Eren is a short man with short black hair and a nasty look on his face. He wears what looks to be a black military outfit, the only white is the frilly cravat tucked in the front of his shirt.

To the right of Eren is a tall man with blonde hair and a decent build. His military outfit is pure white with only his boots being black. He seems like a normal man if not for the really thick, bushy eyebrows of his.

“Yet you’ve presented me with both gates,” the teenage girl, Annie, says, crossing her arms. She looks at Eren as if hating him.

“What can I say? The Devil and the Angel insisted,” Eren sighs. “‘It is not your place to judge souls. Your job is to connect souls to their next destination.’ Something like that, anyways. Annie, you already know what you must do, right?”

She looks sad. But without hesitation, she marches towards the black gate.

But doesn’t that mean that she’s going to…?

Jean opens his mouth but someone grabs his shoulder.

“You mustn’t interfere,” comes a whisper of a ghost that he thought he’d never hear again.

“Annie!” an old man’s voice shouts from the white gate. “You promised! Come home! Even if the world hates you, I swore I'll be on your side. So please just come home!”

The girl freezes. When she turns to look at the white gate, it’s with insurmountable grief that Jean has to look away from. She looked like she might burst into tears any seconds now. And that’s not something Jean wants to see.

“I… lost that right when I killed all those people. There’s no home to return to,” she whispers.

“That guilt of yours is going to weigh you down in your next life, too,” Eren warns her. “It’ll never let you live a normal life if you don’t forgive yourself.”

Annie glances back at Eren. “Do you forgive me for what happened to your mom?”

There’s a cold silence that tells everyone that no, he doesn’t. Then Eren closes his eyes for a second and sighs. When he opens them, it seems just for a second that he has two kind, green eyes.

“I’ve long ago forgiven you, Bertolt, and Reiner. But you’ve already known that, haven’t you? Annie, is it that scary to forgive yourself?”

“Yeah, it is. Especially when those terrifying ghosts keep staring back at me.”

And with a smile on her face, she runs for the black gate.

The world turns gold just as her hands touches the gate. Jean gets the feeling that they’re not supposed to see this. Because the gold scatters, obscuring his vision. If the gates are disappearing, then doesn’t that mean…

Jean finally turns to face Marco. And just vaguely, he thinks he can make out more than just Marco. Shapes of disfigured people that must be what Annie meant when she said "terrifying ghosts." Faintly, Jean wonders how they're all related.

Marco does not look fine.

He’s a pale grey like a corpse. Half of his body is missing, just as Eren said. And it seems that just existing like this is torment for him. But despite that, Marco still manages to offer Jean a smile.

“You too, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Floch. All of you. Move on.”

The gold paints the world blindingly for a second. And in the next, the world returns to its normal state.

Jean, Connie, Sasha, and Floch are pressed up against the wall of an abandoned house. Eren is standing in the middle of the room. Armin and Mikasa are in the corner. There are no gates. There are no ghosts. There are no blood circles on the ground. There aren’t even a single spot of blood left anywhere.

Eren moves to bandage his eye, and Mikasa and Armin rush to his side. They help him cover it up.

“I’m too tired to deal with your ghost as well,” Eren tells them. “If you want me to get rid of him, you’ll have to find me some other time. But I don't recommend waiting for too long. The longer he stays in the world of the living, the harder it'll be for him to keep his form as a human.”

“W-wait, I… wait… Just… wait,” Jean stammers. But he doesn’t know what he’s asking them to wait for. What does he want?

“What we saw just then, what was that?” Sasha asks.

Eren shrugs. “Don’t know. What did you see?”

“T-the gold! A-and the gates. And… Was that really Annie Leonhart?” Connie pushes.

“Ah, so we did see the same things… Hey, does that mean you guys saw them? The Angel and the Devil that haunt me?”

Jean wordlessly nods. Sasha and Connie, too. Floch seems like he's still praying rapidly under his breath, so Jean just lets him be. What they just saw is hard to comprehend as it is. It’s shocking that Jean, Connie, and Sasha can form words.

“Then can you please tell me? Which one is the Devil and which one is the Angel?”

*

The four of them sit quietly at a diner, staring at their food without much energy.

“He… must have been god, right?” Floch whispers. “To be able to do all of that…”

“Don’t be silly,” Jean snaps.

But he’s thinking it, too. What the hell was that they saw? Mikasa and Armin just handed them a single business card with the words “Eren Jaeger, Exorcist” on it with contact information while motioning vaguely behind Jean. Then the three of them left without another word.

“Aha! Looks like we’re in luck!” Connie exclaims. “She hit the camera, but it didn’t damage the memory card!”

“But there might not be anything in there,” Sasha points out.

Connie nods. “Yeah. It might be corrupted. But if we pull in a favor from Marlowe, we might be able to recover something.”

“We’ll be able to witness the powers of a god,” Floch whispers dreamily.

“N-no, the camera broke before any of that. But at the very least, we’ll have a picture of this ‘Eren Jaeger.’”

*

Jean stares at the business card for a second longer.

With his mind made up, he dials the number.

“Hey, we met some time ago in the Leonhart’s house. Y-yeah, the guy with half-a-body spirit following him around. B-by any chance, would you be interested in an assistant?”

 

_Fin._

**Author's Note:**

> Eren picks up a sugar cube, debating whether or not to put it in his tea. He feels like he's done a good enough job that he deserves to eat something sweet. But on the other hand, he still made Armin and Mikasa panic. For making them worried like that, perhaps he should punish himself lightly be denying this sugar cube? 
> 
> "Can you really afford to do eat that, Shitty Brat? Aren't your funds tight this week?" asks Levi as he looks on in complete disgust. 
> 
> That's true. He probably shouldn't. Although he feels upset, Eren sighs and puts the sugar cube back down. Levi's right. He doesn't have the extra funds to waste like that. Every sugar cube should be saved for a rainy day. He should also stop touching the sugar cube with his fingers and use a spoon for this, because Levi is still glaring daggers at him even after he put the sugar cube down.
> 
> "Oh, what's the harm in a bit of sugar? It's not like it costs that much. Go ahead, Eren. I think you deserve this little," Erwin tells him gently with a kind smile.
> 
> Eren glances up from his sugar cube at the two watching his every move. He wonders why he ever feel shocked by this anymore. Until his 13 years are up, they'll forever haunt him as such.
> 
> "You're spoiling him rotten, Erwin. This is why we never get anything done!" Levi growls.
> 
> "On the contrary, you're too strict. If Eren doesn't breath every now and then, he'll end up stuffy like you!"
> 
> "The only one stuffy is you and your eyebrows!"
> 
> "Leave my eyebrows out of this, cravat!"
> 
> Eren gives up on his tea and eats the sugar cube instead. Even for day to day simple things like this, he honestly can't tell.
> 
> Which one of these two is the Devil and which one is the Angel?


End file.
